Nearly half of US unemployed have given up looking for a job

Nearly half of unemployed Americans are on the verge of completely giving up on looking for a job, but they remain optimistic they will find a job they really want within the next six months, a new survey found.

The poll, commissioned by staffing firm Express Employment
Professionals, found that 47 percent of the 1,500 respondents
agreed to some extent that they have completely given up on
looking for a job, but only 7 percent said they agree completely
with that statement.

“The study offers several surprising and sometimes troubling
insights into how unemployed Americans are faring and what
they’re doing, and not doing, to get jobs,” Bob Funk, CEO of
Express and a former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of
Kansas City, said in a
statement. “It also demonstrates why the labor force
participation rate is so low – many people have given up looking
for a job.”

Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed
(those unemployed for 27 weeks or more) has decreased by 908,000,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The civilian labor
force dropped by 806,000 in April, following an increase of
503,000 in March. The labor force participation rate fell by 0.4
percentage point to 62.8 percent in April. The jobless rate
nationwide dropped to 6.3% last month -- the lowest level since
2008 -- as the nation added 288,000 jobs, according to the
government.

"Though the unemployment rate fell in March and April, both
drops reflected fewer people looking for work, not more
employment," Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for the
forecasting firm IHS Global Insight, said in a written assessment
of the job market, according to
NPR.

“After searching for four years and being unsuccessful, I am
tired of trying,” said one Express survey respondent.

But many jobless Americans are reluctant to make significant
changes to boost their chances of landing a job. Only 13 percent
of the survey’s respondents have actively pursued more education.
And they are unwilling to relocate: 44 percent of respondents
said they are unwilling to relocate to a new town, while 60
percent said are unwilling to move to a new state. These numbers
include 57 percent and 72 percent, respectively, of those
unemployed two years or longer.

The economy took the largest share of the blame (45 percent) for
respondents’ difficulty finding a job, but 18 percent blamed the
government, 36 percent blamed themselves and 32 percent blamed
their last boss or someone else at their last company. And
survey-takers don’t seem to be optimistic about the economy
improving: 46 percent believe the reason they are still
unemployed is that there are no available jobs.

The job search is demoralizing for many, and 82 percent say they
are becoming more discouraged the longer they look for a job,
including 87 percent of those receiving unemployment benefits.
Yet respondents remain optimistic, with 91 percent saying they
are hopeful (to some extent) that they will find a job they
really want in the next six months; 34 percent say they agree
completely that they will be employed in the next half year.

Interestingly, only 80 percent of those who aren’t receiving
benefits are becoming more discouraged (though perhaps they can’t
become any more discouraged than they already are). The longer
respondents are unemployed, 83 percent said, the harder they find
it to keep working hard at finding a job. But 14 percent of
respondents said that they do not find being unemployed really
stressful at all.

"I've been feeling very dejected and depressed," Traci
Polacco, an unemployed woman from Denver who dropped out of the
workforce after a discouraging months-long job search, said to
NPR. "The frustration comes when you apply to places like
Subway, and you're told you're overqualified."

Polacco had several interviews while she was looking, including
some second- and third-round callbacks, “but [I] haven't come
close to grabbing that brass ring," she told NPR in a phone
interview.

She’s not alone. Survey respondents averaged 1.8 interviews in
the last month, but 46 percent said they hadn’t been on any
interviews in April. Of the long-term unemployed, 60 percent
didn’t go on any interviews in the last month, including 71
percent of those unemployed two years or more. Only 15 percent of
those who didn’t go on an interview in April have had an
interview at all in 2014.

A look at the numbers

Of the survey respondents, 86 percent are still looking for work,
and 957 respondents (63.8 percent) qualify as long-term
unemployed (those unemployed for 27 weeks or more) -- 35.7
percent haven’t worked in more than two years. The long-term
unemployed average 44.2 months without a job.

Those receiving unemployment benefits average 11 months
unemployed, while those not receiving benefits average 26.2
months unemployed. But those numbers will change soon, as 44
percent of respondents will run out of those benefits by the end
of June.

Length of Unemployment

3 months or less

4 to 6 months

7 to 12 months

13 to 24 months

More than 24 months

Total

# of respondents

309

234

208

214

535

1500

receiving benefits

96

67

34

28

31

256

Reasons for not receiving unemployment compensation

% of respondents (out of 1244)

I am not eligible

32

I never applied

30

My benefits ran out

27

I was denied benefits

10

So who are the unemployed?

The majority (57 percent) of respondents are male, while 43
percent are female.

Education level

% of respondents

high school or less

46

job-specific training programs after high school

7

some college

28

college degree

14

graduate school

5

As of March 2011, 30.4 percent of people over age 25 in the
United States held at least a bachelor’s degree, and 10.9 percent
held a graduate degree, up from 26.2 percent and 8.7 percent 10
years earlier, the Census Bureau reported in 2012.

Base salary of those who last held a full-time job

% of respondents (out of 903)

Less than $15,000

13

$15,000 to $24,999

19

$25,000 to $34,999

20

$35,000 to $49,999

19

$50,000 to $74,999

17

$75,000 to $99,999

7

$100,000 to $124,999

2

$125,000 to $149,999

2

$150,000 to $199,999

1

What do their job searches look like?

Respondents said they only spend an average of 13.8 hours a week
looking for work, despite the fact that experts recommend that
looking for work should be a full-time job in itself when you’re
unemployed. “The upside to being out of work is that you have
plenty of time to conduct a proper job search,” Tammy Gooler
Loeb, a career and executive coach told job-matching website
The Ladders. “The downside is that you have too much
time.”

The majority of respondents - 68 percent - say they are getting
some degree of help from others to find a job. But 51 percent say
they don’t have the resources to look for a job, including 52.3
percent of the long-term unemployed.

And unemployment benefits play a factor in how respondents attack
their job search.

How unemployment benefits affect the job search

% of respondents (out of 256)

I would search harder and wider without benefits

82

I would be in such despair I would give up looking
altogether without benefits

18

Benefits have kept me motivated and in the right frame of
mind to conduct a job search

88

I haven't had to look as hard for a job because of benefits

48

Benefits have allowed me to turn down a job(s) that wasn't
right for me

48

Benefits are providing me a cushion until Social Security
kicks in

54

Unemployment compensation may also give respondents more
flexibility in the types of jobs they’re willing to take.

Type of job

% of respondents

I am currently willing (to any extent) to accept available
positions below my most recent pay level

83

I am currently willing (to any extent) to accept part-time
positions

93

I am currently willing (to any extent) to accept temporary
or seasonal positions

91

I am currently willing (to any extent) to accept contract
positions

86

I am currently willing (to any extent) to accept almost any
job that will help me pay my bills

89

I am currently willing (to any extent) to accept a job that
allows me to use my education and skills

26

I am willing to take whatever job I can get

48

I am looking for a job with a company that has a history of
stability to reduce my risk of losing a job even if it
means a lower salary or wage

32

I am looking for a job that meets or exceeds my previous
salary/wage and I would be unwilling to accept a job making
less money